David Farrell
Born and schooled in Rhodesia, David left Africa for England, where he lived for seven years and started a career in management.
On the release of Mandela and in the hope of reform, he returned to Southern Africa.
His seventeen-year residency there preceded his immigration to New Zealand some two decades ago.
Where he dedicated himself to honing both his leadership and writing talents.
His three books in The Wilde Collection series portray a fictional coming of age journey that follows his own.
Genre:
Skills:
- Fiction
- History
- Management
- Non-Fiction
- Poetry
Branch:
Hamilton
Location:
Cambridge
Publications:
The Chameleon
The Chameleon is the tale of Rorke Wilde, who grows up in Rhodesia. Rorke’s need to mimic his pet chameleon, if he is to survive the racial discourse in a country divided by apartheid during the 1970s.
Rorke’s father works in the British South Africa Police while his mother is a clerk in the tax office. His best friend and father figure is the family’s domestic worker, Themba Dube, an AmaNdebele of Zulu descent. Whom guides Rorke through the turmoil of civil bias.
Themba introduces Rorke to his nephew Lucky Ndlovu, who lost his parents in the AIDS pandemic and who lives with his grandmother in a squatter camp (informal settlements) in Johannesburg.
The old man and boy share their experiences of a life of poverty post-independence where Rorke learns about the real Africa that he once saw through Panglossian glasses.
A fictional biography that challenges the norms of history. Of apartheid, colonialism, heartbreak, love, and compassion.
Many, if not all of us, have experienced the good and bad in the worldwide diaspora because of politics, greed, and opportunity.